Braves Bulletin
Doing What's BEST for Kids!
Fall is here!
Fall has finally arrived! We have had a great start to the school year, and we are gearing up for fall weather, basketball, and field trips :) Please keep the weather in mind when dressing each day as the building is air-conditioned, but the weather outside is constantly changing!
October is Bullying Prevention Month!
Wednesday, October 23rd is Unity Day - Make it ORANGE and make it end! What are your true colors when it comes to showing that you believe that all youth should be safe from bullying? Come together in one giant ORANGE message of hope and support, WEAR AND SHARE ORANGE to color our nation, and even the world, visibly showing that our society believes that no child should ever experience bullying.
Bus Lanes and Parking Lot
Please make sure that you do not drive through the lane in front of the school in the morning or after school during bus times. It can cause a very dangerous situation for our students if motorists do not obey the barricades. Also, when you drop your child off in the morning please do not park in the flow lane and watch them walk in. If you want to watch them walk in, please park in a space. This causes congestion in the lane and kids are trying to walk between cars that are idling. Also, if you have questions for teachers, please email the teacher. Mrs. Johnson needs to keep the traffic moving! And don’t forget to say hello to our October Ambassadors, Alia & William!
Reading Night
Thank you to all who came out to reading night! The camping theme was great, and there were so many activities available for all! Thank you PTO, Mrs. Kellum, Mrs. Floyd, Mrs. Morrow, and Mrs. Keene!
Junior High Homework Intervention
A message from our Support Staff
As we continue through the school year, we encourage you to have conversations at home with your children about students with disabilities or different abilities. Inclusion has become more and more prevalent in classrooms, and it is highly likely that your children have or will encounter someone with a disability. So often parents talk to their children about things like manners, stranger-danger, and bullying, but forget to teach how to interact with students with disabilities.
Teach your child that disabilities look different. Some are more physically obvious where as others such as Autism, may not be as obvious.
Teach them that it is never okay to tease and bully someone who is different, but it is okay to include them and ask them to be a friend.
Show them that interacting with people with disabilities is normal. Children lead by example.
Teach them that although children with disabilities may communicate differently, they are kids just like them and probably have similar interests as they do.
Encourage them to ask an adult if they have questions or are scared by a behavior.
Let them know that although the behavior may be inappropriate it is likely that child's attempt to communicate and they are still learning, but are not bad.
We have included more information from the Autism Society on how to talk to your child about Autism. Communication is key both at home and at school to helping all children understand and accept each other. Remember, we can all learn something valuable from one another and our differences.
https://www.autism-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/growing_together.pdf
-Dee Mack Primary/JH Support Staff
Sports UPDATE
Cross Country is continuing their season, see below for an update from Mr. Witte!
The Girls Basketball season has begun! They are looking forward to a fun season!
Boys Basketball will be up next - tryout dates will be posted online and at school.
Cheerleaders are already practicing for the upcoming boys basketball season!
The sport schedules are listed on the Dee-Mack JH 8to18 website! https://il.8to18.com/DeeMackJH This is also where to register your athlete for any sports for the school year!
REMINDER: Visit www.deemack.org, head to the PJHS site (there is a drop down option at the top of the website) and check out the Practice/Game Bus Schedule. If you have a student athlete, this document will tell you what to expect for the week as far as game times and bus times! (if you scroll down a bit, you will see that there are multiple tabs for the upcoming week(s).
Cross Country Update from Coach Witte
The Dee-Mack Jr. High cross country season is still going strong. The boy’s team brought home a 2nd place trophy from the Corpus Christi Invite(12 schools) and a 3rd place trophy at the Olympia Invite(24 schools). There were many individual medalists from both, boys and girls teams. This past Monday we had our annual home cross country meet at Bluegrass Golf Course. Justice Rockhold won the boys race, with Tyce Albritton finishing 5th and Abby Sauder brought home a 3rd place medal for the girls.
This Saturday we will be running at the Delavan Invite with 32 schools participating. Next Saturday(Oct. 12) will be the cross country sectionals. Hopefully we have some individuals or teams qualifying for the state finals on Oct. 19.
IMPORTANT DATES
October 4: Picture Retakes
October 8: 8th Grade Career Spark Field Trip
October 11: PTO Walk-A-Thon 12-1:30
October 11: SIP Day-1:30 Dismissal
October 11: Homecoming Parade - 2:00p
October 14: No School
October 22: PTO Monical's Pizza Fundraiser
October 23: Parent-Teacher Conferences 4pm-8pm
October 24: Early Dismissal @ 11:30
October 24: Parent-Teacher Conferences 1pm-8pm
October 25: No School
October 31: Halloween Parade @ 2:00
November 5: PTO Meeting 3:45
November 8: SIP Day - 1:30 Dismissal
November 11: Veteran's Day - School IS IN session!
November 15: Junior High Dance hosted by Student Council 6:30-8:30
November 22: PTO Popcorn Friday
November 27: SIP Day - 1:30 Dismissal
November 28 & 29: No School - Happy Thanksgiving!
Homecoming Week Activities - October 7-12
The Homecoming theme this year is 'Dee-Mack's Got Game'.
Dress Up Days (Primary & Junior High):
M:Red, White & Blue Day
T: Twins Day
W: Decades Day (1950-2000)
R: Favorite Team Jersey
F: Dee-Mack Spirit
Junior High Spirit Contest: the class with the most dress up participation will be able to hang the spirit banner in their hallway!
For those with students in multiple buildings, here are the Dress Up Days for our other buildings:
Intermediate School:
M: Wear Red or Team Reed Shirt
T: Twins Day
W: Decades Day (1950-2000)
R: Favorite Team Jersey
F: Dee-Mack Spirit
High School:
M: Hungry Hungry Hippo (Dress as your favorite animal)
T: Twister/Twinster (Crazy Clothes/Mismatch with a twin_
W: What Do You Meme? (Dress as your favorite meme or YouTube Character)
R: Scrabble It Up (Put a single letter on front of shirt and spell words with friends)
F: Go Dee-Mack Go! (Dee-Mack Spiritwear)
Events that you won't want to miss throughout the week:
Monday: Powder Puff Games @ 6pm on Jim McDonald Field. Admission is a donation toward St. Jude! Concessions will be sold. Stay for the coronation of Homecoming King & Queen at halftime!
Tuesday: JH Girls Basketball vs Tri-Valley in the PJHS Gym at 4:30pm
Thursday: HS Girls Volleyball vs El Paso-Gridley in the HS New Gym. Freshman at 5:00, JV at 6:00, Varsity at 7:00.
Friday: Come celebrate Homecoming at Jim McDonald field to watch Dee-Mack Football vs Fisher at 7pm!
COPE Education Event: Substance Abuse Panel Nov. 7th
Dee-Mack COPE Project would like to formally invite district families and community members to attend our upcoming community education event: Coping with Substance Abuse on November 7th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in the Dee-Mack High School cafeteria. (see the downloadable pdf below).
The informative night will feature an interactive awareness exhibit for parents and adult community members as well as a moderated question and answer session with an expert panel. Panel experts include: Sharon Harkless, Parent Advocate from Cody's Crusaders Foundation; Michele Jacobs, DCM District Superintendent; Julia Eaton, Clinician from Illinois Addiction & Recovery Institute; and Officer Brandon Reese, Mackinaw Police Department. In addition, high school counselors will be running an age-appropriate substance abuse awareness session for Junior and Senior High students. We will also provide FREE child care and light refreshments for participants.
Visit http://www.deemack.org/news/what_s_new/c__o__p__e__substance_abuse_talk to fill out an online registration form. Attendees may also register by calling 309.359.3049 ext 2026 or emailing me at acurtin@deemack.org. While registration is not required, it is strongly encouraged. It is our hope that this event will connect Deer Creek-Mackinaw families and community members with useful, actionable information and local resources to combat the issue of substance abuse at all ages, which, unfortunately, has become an all too common in our society.
**Dee-Mack COPE (Community Outreach Partners in Education) is a project made possible by funding from the DCMEA and Stout Foundation grants.**
Ashley J. Curtin
RtI Coordinator
Deer Creek-Mackinaw High School
Ph. (309) 359-4421 Ext. 2026
Do you have the Dee-Mack CUSD App or the Skyward App?
You can also download the Skyward Mobile Access App by Skyward, Inc., for immediate access to student grades, attendance, behavior and more. The Skyward App is available on all major mobile platforms, including iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.
PTO October Events
*10/22 - Monical's Day Fundraiser! Why cook, when you can dine in or carry out at Monical's Pizza in Morton! They give 20% of sales to our school. Be watching for a flyer to come home!
Thank you to following businesses who have donated to the Annual Walk-A-Thon!
Gary's Photography
Headlines Hair Studio
John Zaiser Insurance Company
Mackinaw Pharmacy
Haensel Funeral Home
Henderson-Weir Agency
Schumm Trucking
Seasons (Morton)
The Catering Company
Big Dawg Concrete
Fitzgerald Equipment Company
Aunt Em's Gourmet Popcorn
GA Rich & Sons, Inc.
Dee-Mack Apparel Store
Dee-Mack Primary & Junior High School
Email: hpaddock@deemack.org
Website: http://deemack-jhs.ss18.sharpschool.com/
Location: 102 East Fifth Street, Mackinaw, IL
Phone: 3093594321
Twitter: @Dee_Mack_Braves